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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724889">Life's Little Promises</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anam_Writes/pseuds/Anam_Writes'>Anam_Writes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Anam's Commission Library [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Cookies, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:41:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anam_Writes/pseuds/Anam_Writes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dedue asked after Ashe Dimitri had hesitated and the air in Dedue’s lungs was heavy as stone. </p><p>“He is posted at Garreg Mach, holding down our base of operations for the month. We will be returning there shortly.” Dimitri said, to his relief. He held Dedue firmly by the shoulder, looked him in the eye. He spoke softly next. “Remember your promise. You will not throw your life away.”</p><p>“I remember, Your Highness,” Dedue bowed his head. </p><p>Dimitri’s gaze did not shift, growing fiercer. “That extends to more than just keeping your heart beating.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Anam's Commission Library [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Life's Little Promises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahBell221/gifts">HannahBell221</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first Ashedue fic! It was such a pleasure to write! </p><p>I hope you enjoy, and a shout out to the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahBell221/pseuds/HannahBell221">HannahBell221</a> for the commission. It was great to write this for her. </p><p>Make sure to check out her work. She's lovely!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>No one wondered why it was that Ashe avoided Catherine - and at times the entire knight’s hall - in the months after </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> mission. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If they wondered why he sought out Dedue, they dared not to ask. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would leave the dormitories early in the morning, pulling his coat tightly ‘round his shoulders, shivering the slightest bit in an autumn morning’s air. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would walk against the breeze, take the quick path to the greenhouse. Dedue would be there, tending to the flowers in silence. It was amiable, warm, warmer each time he joined him. Seldom were words passed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Dedue did speak it was of the garden, or a new recipe. One day he placed a hand on Ashe’s shoulder and pointed to the glass at dawn saying only, “it is beautiful.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think this might be my favourite place to watch the sunrise from,” Ashe told Dedue. “With the way the greenhouse glows and how the light reflects on the flowers, how could it not be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a close second,” Dedue said. “To the sunrise in Duscar.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe nodded. Dedue did him the great favour of not apologizing for Lonato’s death when every other Blue Lion had done so a dozen times over. He wouldn’t overshadow a good memory with grief either.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The mornings here are best, though,” Dedue added. “I enjoy starting my day with a friend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Ashe’s face turned red. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was more than he hoped for, less than he wanted. His lips twitched at an irony that tasted bitter in his mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What drew Ashe close was the very image of chivalry. What kept him at arms length, a friend and nothing more, was the heart of it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He did not want to be bitter. He cared for Dedue, and Dimitri, too, was his friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So do I. Maybe we should spend more time together - if your schedule with His Highness allows it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It does.” Dude answered. “And we should.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>One afternoon Dedue found himself with unexpected spare time. The professor and Dimitri were set up in the lecture hall, pouring over work not for the rest of the classes eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can go if you like,” Dimitri said with a smile. “This may take a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A while was an exaggeration. Based on the pace of these duties he had a quarter hour, if that. All the same, he took his leave. The professor was safer company than most. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue asked Mercedes and Annette, picnicking in the courtyard, if they knew where he could find Ashe. It was no shock that he’d reportedly claimed a corner of the library and a thick stack of books. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He went up the stairs, as briskly as was proper. With the afternoon’s foot traffic through the monastery, he made it to the library in what he counted as three minutes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dedue!” Ashe smiled broadly when he saw him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue raised a finger to his lips, a reminder Ashe seldom needed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His ears turned pink as he looked around and saw the other students glancing in his direction. With a mouthed ‘sorry’ he closed his book and pulled out a seat beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am not sure I have time to sit,” Dedue admitted, holding his hand up in a graceful decline. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Ashe said, making a point of whispering. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue couldn’t help but smile at that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you need something then?” Ashe asked. “Did His Highness or the professor call for me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Dedue settled into a comfortable stance across from Ashe. “I was given leave by His Highness for a short while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe’s mouth fell open a while before he spoke. “And you came to see me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue nodded. For the first time since he’d met Ashe, his classmate seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the silence that followed. Dedue watched him shift in his chair, gaze falling to the table and shuffling about. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you eaten?” Ashe asked suddenly, eyes settling on something beside his chair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I eat three meals each day,” Dedue answered. “It would not serve His Highness if I was unwell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But if it’s only a short break you could have gotten yourself a snack,” Ashe said. He ducked beneath the desk and rose with a little folded cloth parcel. “Here, take these.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue accepted the gift, feeling warmth emit through the cloth as he did. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re cookies, my own recipe,” Ashe said. “But this time I used some of the techniques you showed me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for this,” Dedue said. He smiled, face softening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe shook his head. “Thank </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. For coming to see me, that is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When it was time for Dedue to return to the lecture hall he did so with the parcel of cookies in hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He offered cookies to Annette and Mercedes, still in the courtyard together. Then he gave the professor and Dimitri one each, as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How thoughtful,” the professor said, biting immediately into their sweet with a happy nod. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dimitri grinned. “You didn’t have to use your own time getting snacks for us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I went to see Ashe,” Dedue assured the prince. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dimitri hummed, looking down at the cookies. “Well, make sure to thank Ashe for us, and tell him they are delicious.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue unfolded the parcel entirely on the professor’s desk and took one cookie for himself. “Yes, Your Highness.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a hard thing, for years to pass without so much as news of someone so dear. But that was the way of things. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe no longer moved in Dimitri’s circle, if he had managed - </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>let him manage - to survive these trying times. Thereby, Ashe did not move in Dedue’s circle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He kept his ear to the ground, both through contact with those knights and nobles he’d befriended five years ago, and through the gossip of the people. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes he would catch word of some man of Duscar or another who had passed through a town, or camped outside a city. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’d follow up for details, but rarely was there anything to point to his old friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still, Ashe tried. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a large part - though not every part - of why he came back to the monastery in the first place. They’d all sworn to meet and Dedue was nothing if not a man of his word. If he was able, he would be there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe found him not to be there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dimitri was incensed and alone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue, he was told, was dead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Months became mere motions then. He fought for Faerghus, against the consumption of the continent under the Empire so many citizens of Faerghus and Leicester had died to be rid of. That, at least, he could do.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But still, like in his school days, Ashe would leave the dormitories early in the morning, pulling his coat tightly ‘round his shoulders, shivering at the chill of memories that followed him like a ghost. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would watch the sunrise alone through the dusty glass as he tended the flowers. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The battle at the Great Bridge of Myrddin saw the reunion of Dedue and those he cared for. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mercedes held him and refused to let go. Annette cried and shimmied between Mercedes and himself. The professor put a hand on his arm, looked at him mournfully, then smiled for only a second, as was their way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dimitri had him make a promise, one he knew he had to keep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe had not been at Myrddin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Dedue asked after him Dimitri had hesitated and the air in Dedue’s lungs was heavy as stone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He is posted at Garreg Mach, holding down our base of operations for the month. We will be returning there shortly.” Dimitri said, to his relief. He held Dedue firmly by the shoulder, looked him in the eye. He spoke softly next. “Remember your promise. You will not throw your life away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I remember, Your Highness,” Dedue bowed his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dimitri’s gaze did not shift, growing fiercer. “That extends to more than just keeping your heart beating.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The library was empty for all except two: Dedue standing at the end of a shelf and Ashe seated in the same corner he used to monopolize.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe's hands were folded on the table. His fingers scratched at the wooden grain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I have time," Dedue said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe raised his head, eyes wide and dewy in the dim light of his candle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"May I sit?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe did not answer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chair legs scraped on the floor's panels. The fall of his feet thudded along. Ashe ran toward him, body thudding into armoured breastplate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're alive," Ashe gasped. "I thought-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"His Highness told me," Dedue took Ashe by both shoulders, held him steady to step back from him. "I'm sorry to have worried you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't be sorry," Ashe said. "It's okay. Someone has to worry for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue's mouth pulled back in a line, not quite a smile. "Apologies."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe huffed, about to object, reassert his stance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I am glad to have you to worry for me," Dedue said, before he could protest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence went on a while. Dedue's hands dropped from Ashe's shoulder. His gaze faltered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I want you to know," Ashe breathed in deeply. The impulse to take Dedue's hands in his own crossed his mind. He'd reached out by the time he stopped himself, fingers flinching back into tightly clamped fists. "I will always worry for you. I know your first thought is, and must always be for Dimitri but-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cool touch of metal on his cheek stopped his words in his throat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, I-" Dedue paused, searching for the words. "I worry for you, too. I imagine a life where my first thought is for me, my own happiness."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dedue's armoured glove lowered, a gentle grasp on the back of his neck. Ashe's face warmed when he realized he had come closer, leaned further in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Where I could think first of gardens, of cooking, of sunrises, of you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ashe reached up, his hand resting in the crook of Dedue's elbow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If you'll have me-" Dedue began. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He did not get the chance to finish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the tips of his toes, Ashe placed a kiss on Dedue's lips. What first was a peck shifted as Dedue held him close, lifted him higher. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What was gentle became firm. What was firm became a promise. What was a promise became life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They would not throw away their life. </span>
</p>
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